By cutting funds for Head Start, sequestration has sent low-income children in some states home 10 days early. But the federal government’s inability to agree on a budget didn’t prevent 2,800 Head Start leaders from attending a three-day conference in National Harbor, Md., this week.

Chalk it up to the peculiarities of the sequester. In this case, it’s O.K. to cut classes for kids, but not O.K. to reallocate Training and Technical Assistance funds.